


Light the fire, son

by JustifyingEvil



Category: Midsomer Murders - All Media Types
Genre: Ben's gran mentioned, Childhood Memories, DCI Barnaby mentioned, Gen, Memories, Originally Posted on FanFiction.Net, Somewhat sad, childhood home
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-03
Updated: 2018-07-03
Packaged: 2019-06-04 18:48:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,001
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15153371
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JustifyingEvil/pseuds/JustifyingEvil
Summary: Ben returns to his home land of Wales to recall some memories





	Light the fire, son

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! For some stupid reason I keep coming up with new ideas for fanfics and write them instead of writing the ones that have been in the works for a long while.  
> Anyway got the idea for this one while listening to the song Tan yn Llyn by Plethyn. The title of the song translates to Fire in Llyn. It’s a Welsh song. Also I vaguely remember a Welsh poem that I can’t remember the name of but it was about a father and son and I got some ideas from it.  
> This fanfic is my take on Ben and his family. Nothing said is factual, might be a bit sad. I wonder what really happened to Ben’s parents and why they were never mentioned?  
> Enjoy, sorry for any mistakes.

He had set off relatively early since it was going to be a long drive. It would have been exactly a 2 hour and 50 minuet drive but thanks to the morning traffic, it was just over 3 hours. He had finally arrived back to his home land, Wales. It had been a long while, too long. He loved the county for everything it was worth. The last time he was here was that one case with his now retired DCI, Tom Barnaby. What an adventure that was. After that, he never got the chance to come back. Finally, he got a day off and he had planned it perfectly. He hadn’t told his DCI, John Barnaby that he was going to be out of the county so if a case did come up, that was going to be a problem. It was his day off so he had every right to go on a road trip. There was one place in particular he wanted... needed to go.

Ben parked his car across the street from his childhood home. He got out and looked at the old house, what a state it was in. It was clear that no one had lived there for a long time. The front garden was overgrown. The windows boarded up and paint pealing off the door. It was a sorry sight. The house still belonged to his family but they had moved out not bothering to wait for a sale. The house never sold and fell into disrepair. Ben walked up the stone path, some of the slabs moving under his feet. He paused for a moment before opening the door, revealing the dull, damp hallway of the house. 

Stepping inside gave Ben a deja vu feeling. The smell of dust and damp was strong which made Ben wrinkle his nose. It was clear that the upstairs was a no go as half the steps were broken. He entered the living room. It was bigger than he remembered, probably because there was no furniture. He smiled as he walked up to the fireplace. He had some happy memories sitting in front of this fireplace. There was one memory though that was burnt into his mind but wished that he could forget. The moment he told his parents he wanted to become a police officer.

They were not pleased to say the least. An argument broke out and things were said that could never be unsaid. They said they never wanted to see him again and asked what did they do wrong raising him. Ben had hoped they would be his biggest supporters of his career choice but all they did was bring him down. It had broken his heart hearing that he was no longer their son that they raised. They had higher expectations for him as he was their only child. Do something useful they said. Make us proud they said at one point but all he was, was a disappointment. This wasn’t the first argument they had ever had. Yes, they had their fair share of arguments, some got out of hand and Ben ended up locked in his room or threatened with a belt, never hit though.

Ben put his hand on the edge of the fireplace and stared into it, imagining the flames roaring on a cold night in winter. He was told to just leave and to never come back. They wanted him out as soon as he could. The day he left, he never looked back. He drove away to Midsomer, a place he didn’t know well but his Gran lived there and she was willing to put him up and support him all the way. He was happy in Midsomer. He had tried to make contact with he parents but they rarely picked up the phone and when they did, they weren’t very interested and hung up quite quickly. Ben was so hurt, feeling as if he had betrayed his mum and dad. He moved on and had a great time being in the police force. He made some good friends and he found a place to call home. 

Ben moved on from the living room to the kitchen. It was in a worse state that the living room. He remembered standing in his own kitchen one night and getting a phone call from his mum. His dad had been taken ill and his mum didn’t know if he was going to make it. Ben was at a loss at what to do. His mother begged him to come home and that’s what he did. He drove into the night all the way back home. He had arrived at the hospital and sat next to his dad’s bed with his mum on the other side. He would never forget the short but saddening conversation they had...

“Son, can you forgive me?”

“There’s no need for that now. Dad everything will be ok, don’t worry”

“I love you, Benjamin. My boy.”  
Flatline.

Ben made his way out of the house, back into the sunlight. His mother had been very distant after his father’s death. She moved in with another relative on her side of the family. His dad hadn’t left him much, most of it went to his mum and Gran but that didn’t bother him. He had gone for so long without his support. He never mentioned his parents to Tom, Joyce or Cully, they never asked. He knew that Sarah had asked them. She probably wanted to know, John might do as well but it was never the right time and it never came up in conversation actually.

For the remainder of the day, Ben drove round visiting some places he used to go. His last stop before he headed for home was the cemetery. He walked up to the grave of his dad and placed a small bunch of flowers. He knelt down and placed a hand on top of the grave. 

“I forgive you, dad”


End file.
